Sportsbooks Say No to Election

Kalshi Has Taken More Than $142 M in Presidential Election Wagers

November 4, 2024

Good morning! Betting on the election is a lucrative but risky business

U.S. Sportsbooks Steer Clear of Big-Money Election Market, for Now
Sportico’s Dan Bernstein writes, “Six years after the 2018 Supreme Court decision that led to widespread legalization of mobile sports betting, U.S. sportsbooks dangle a variety of granular and obscure potential wagers in front of customers. But one market they are not tapping into is betting on government elections. No U.S. state currently allows the practice ahead of the 2024 vote.

“However, companies such as Sequoia-backed Kalshi, PredictIt and financial tech giant Robinhood offer workaround entries into the market through political event futures contract trading.

By applying futures trading to politics, firms are lapping up revenue, while BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel and other U.S. betting leaders stay out of the lucrative line of business. As of Friday, Kalshi has taken more than $142 million in wagers on the presidential election winner.
^Sportico

Brooks Running Is Having Its Best Year Ever as Category Has ‘Never Been This Healthy’
FOS’ Lisa Scherzer reports: “Brooks Running reached $1 billion in sales for the first nine months of 2024, a record for the company. 

“The 110-year-old Seattle-based shoe company, which is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, has maintained No. 1 market share in adult performance running footwear for the 11th consecutive quarter, according to market research firm Circana.”
^{Front Office Sports}

MSG Sports Reports $53.3M in 2025 Q1 Revenue
A month after the Knicks and Rangers began their 2024-25 regular seasons, MSG Sports reported $53.3M in revenue for the first fiscal quarter, representing a 24% year-over-year increase. Still, for the quarter ended Sept. 30, the company had an operating loss of $8.3M.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Yankees-Dodgers the Most-Watched World Series Since 2017
According to SBJ, the five-game Dodgers-Yankees matchup this year delivered Fox the most-watched World Series since the seven-game Astros-Dodgers matchup in 2017. Fox averaged 15.2 million viewers over five games for Dodgers-Yankees, up 67% from the five-game Rangers-D-backs World Series last year and the best since Astros-Dodgers drew 18.9 million back in 2017.
^{Sports Business Journal}

Andrew Thau Exits As Co-Head of UTA Sports Amid Agency Cuts
According to Deadline, Andrew Thau is leaving UTA after 17 years. A longtime COO of the agency, he most recently served as the Co-Head of UTA Sports.

Thau served as COO of UTA from 2007, when he joined the agency, until this past June when Bob Roback was named to the post. As Deadline first reported, UTA has begun the end-of-year process of letting go a number of agents as contracts come up for renewal.
^Deadline

Silver Would ‘Love’ Mexico City NBA Team
The Heat and Wizards faced off before 20,328 in Mexico City on Saturday, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he would “love to have a team” there but admitted it would be “more difficult to expand to Mexico City than it would be to expand to U.S. cities that have very publicly sought NBA teams.” Silver said, “Being direct, it’s highly unlikely Mexico City would jump above U.S. cities that are currently under consideration.” He said that the NBA front office has “begun to study expansion internally” and adding a team to Mexico City, with a population of about 22 million, is "'many years off,' if it were to happen."
^{Sports Business Journal}

WTA Chief Executive Portia Archer Defends Tour Finals ‘Values’ Ahead of Saudi Arabia Tournament
“We often play in environments and in countries that have different customs, different cultures, and in some cases different value systems than I might have personally or that the WTA may have as an organisation based in the United States,” Women’s Tennis Association chief executive officer PortiaArcher said in a news conference before play commences on Saturday 2 November.

“We’ve never actually had any issues with freedom of expression, at least not that I’m aware of,” she went to note of previous events held in countries with similar policies to Saudi Arabia.
^{The Athleti} c

Grand Canyon Declines West Coast Conference Invite to Join Mountain West Conference
SI’s Cole Forsman reports: “Grand Canyon won’t be joining the West Coast Conference after all, as the school announced Friday that it has accepted an invite to be part of the Mountain West Conference.

“Starting by at least 2026, the Antelopes will compete in 17 conference-sponsored sports, including men’s basketball. The school will try to join the Mountain West as early as the second quarter of 2025 if permitted by the conference's bylaws.”
^{Sports Illustrated}

Realignment Has Changed College Sports. That’s Left Basketball to Adjust in a Football-Driven World
“I think we are an afterthought right now,” said Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel, who was Oklahoma’s coach as Texas mulled the domino-tipping shift in 2010 before both schools ended up in the Southeastern Conference this year. “We’re not at the forefront of what’s thought about with what’s best for college athletics. Everything is about football because everything’s about money.”
^{AP News}

Florida-Georgia Rivalry Will Continue in Jacksonville After EverBank Stadium Renovation
The Florida Times-Union’s David Bauerlein and Garry Smits write, “A day before another kickoff in the long-running rivalry between the Gators and Bulldogs, the city of Jacksonville announced it reached agreement with the University of Florida and the University of Georgia to play their tradition-steeped game in Jacksonville for at least another four years after renovation of the city-owned football stadium is complete in 2028.

“Keeping the tradition alive would come at a cost. A memorandum of understanding shows the city would guarantee a minimum of $10 million to each school for playing in Jacksonville in 2028 and the same $10 million apiece in 2029. The minimum payment would rise to $10.5 million for each school in the 2030 season and again at that level in the 2031 game.”
^{The Florida Times-Union}

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